Device for releasing the products in a vending machine

ABSTRACT

A device for releasing the products in a vending machine includes a structure for containing the stack of products consisting in a front plate (1) and a rear plate (2) to which two flanks (3a, 3b) and two walls (4a, 4b) are secured, a pair of rocker levers (5a, 5b) and a revolving basket (6) being rotatably mounted inside structure for alternately supporting the two staggered columns forming the stack of products and for releasing the products. The driving components, which impart a unidirectional revolving motion to the basket (6), and the controlling components of the rockers (5a, 5b), which consist in a pair of cams (14) which rotate at half the revolving speed of the basket (6), are positioned outside said structure.

The present invention relates to the mechanisms included in vendingmachines, and in particular to a device for releasing the products.

It is known that vending machines for products packed in envelopeshaving the shape of a surface of revolution, such as typically cans andbottles of drinks, usually include a basket located below the stack ofproducts and suitable to control the release thereof. In order toexploit at the best the available width, this stack is generally made upof two columns of products placed side by side and staggered, so that bysupporting one of them also the other one is supported. The releasedproduct comes alternately from the left column and from the right one.

The release is carried out through a rotation of about 90°, e.g. counterclockwise, of the basket which moves to a vertical position whereby theproducts rolls down from the left side, opposite to the side of theright column from which it came down. The direction of rotation of thebasket is then inverted in order to take it back in position below thetwo columns and to support the right column, while another product comesdown from the left column for the next release from the right side ofthe basket when it will rotate 90° clockwise. Therefore, prior artdevices must include a mechanism for inverting the direction of rotationof the basket, which oscillates along an arc of about 180° centered onthe vertical.

Furthermore, the basket always occupies a portion of the width of theproduct drop channel, even when it reaches the vertical position. Thisimplies that the maximum product diameter which can be managed by saiddevice depends on the distance from the channel wall to the edge of thebasket in the vertical position. Therefore, the width of the dropchannel is not completely exploited in this way.

In practice, in order to exploit the depth of the device, not only asingle product at a time but a whole row of products horizontallyaligned one behind the other comes down into the basket. The sequentialrelease of the products making up said row (usually 2 or 3) is achievedby providing a series of horizontal projections of increasing width onthe wall of the drop channel along the depth of the device. By carryingout the above-mentioned 90° rotation in more steps, at each stop of thebasket there is only one product which has sufficient room, between thebasket edge and the projection positioned by that product, to roll outof the basket and thus be released, whereas those behind it in the roware retained by the respective wider projections. Once the drop channelwidth is established, the limit to the number of products making up arow is given by the fact that the widest projection must not be widerthan the basket in the vertical position, otherwise said projectionwould reduce the drop width when the product is released from the otherside.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a devicewhich overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks.

This object is achieved by means of a device having the characteristicscited in claim 1.

A first fundamental advantage of the present device comes from theunidirectional rotation of the basket, which allows to simplify themechanical and electrical control of the sales in multiple rows. Theresulting device is therefore cheaper and more reliable.

A second advantage of the device according to the invention is theexploitation of the whole width of the drop channel, whereby within thesame transverse space it is possible to manage products of greaterdiameter and/or longer rows. Therefore, the device capacity and thediameter range it can manage are increased without requiring changes.

These and other advantages and characteristics of the device accordingto the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the artfrom the following detailed description of an embodiment thereofreferring to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a device according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the assembled device of FIG.1; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the operating sequence of thedevice.

Referring to FIG.1, there is seen that a device according to the presentinvention conventionally includes a structure for containing theproducts on sale, inside which structure the members for selecting andreleasing the products are positioned, while the components forcontrolling and driving said elements are placed outside.

The containing structure is made up of a front plate 1 and a rear plate2, mutually connected in the lower portion thereof by a left flank 3aand a right flank 3b which form the drop channel mouth. In the upperportion, two side walls 4a, 4b (the right one 4b shown in phantom) arepositioned to contain the stacked products as mentioned above. Saidwalls are secured to plates 1 and 2 through perforated supports (notshown) which assure their equal distance from the vertical mid plane ofthe device and allow the variation of their mutual distance according tothe diameter of the products, as it will be better explained further on.Obviously, the walls are spaced while always keeping them at equaldistance from the mid plane.

The members for selecting and releasing the products consist in a pairof rocker levers 5a, 5b for supporting and alternately letting down theproducts in an underlying revolving basket 6. Each rocker is pivoted atthe front and rear to plates 1 and 2, respectively, by means of pivots 7integral with said plates. On the contrary, basket 6 is provided withcentral pivots 8, at the front and rear, which go across plates 1 and 2through corresponding passage holes 9.

The components for controlling and driving the above members include acylindrical sleeve 10 provided with bores 11 for fixing it to the plateand with a projecting edge rim 12 acting as a blocking ring for a crownwheel 13 inside which said sleeve 10 is inserted. A cam 14, whoseprofile will be described in detail later on, is mounted on crown 13 onthe side towards the plate. This series of components is symmetricallymounted on pivots 8 of basket 6 both at the front and rear.

The section of FIG. 2 clearly shows how sleeve 10 acts as a journal boxfor pivot 8 and as a pivot for crown wheel 13. This section also showshow the rear pivot 8 is blocked by means of a rear pinion 15 securedthereon by means of a key and engaging crown 13. A similar front pinion16 is keyed also on the front pivot 8, but it is provided with a forwardextending hub 17 which is keyed onto the output shaft 18 of a motorreducer 19 mounted on plate 1 by means of brackets and spacers.Therefore, pinion 16 acts as a mechanical joint between motor reducer 19and the rest of the device, while basket 6 acts as a drive shaft totransmit the motion to the rear pinion 15.

A disc 20 provided with a series of peripheral notches 21 suitable tooperate a switch mounted on plate 1 (not shown) to control the motorreducer stopping is fixed on the outside of hub 17 of pinion 16. In thisway, basket 6 is stopped at the desired positions during its rotation inorder to carry out the sequenced release of a row of products aspreviously explained. The number of notches 21 is obviously equal to themaximum number of stops intended for basket 6. Disc 20 is also providedwith two opposite series of holes 22 wherein a pair of pins 23 makingpart of a covering disc 24 pushed against disc 20 by a spring 25 areinserted from the rear. In order to reduce the number of stops accordingto the need, it is possible to cover one or more notches 21 by changingthe position of disc 24 with respect to disc 20.

It should be noted that the gear ratio between pinions 15, 16 and crowns13 is equal to 0,5, whereby a complete revolution of basket 6 secured tothe pinions corresponds to half revolution of crowns 13 and of cams 14secured thereto.

Each end arm 26 of the rockers is provided with a pin 27, on which aneedle bearing 28 is mounted, passing through a slot 29 in the plate andforming the follower which follows the profile of cam 14. Thanks to theposition of pivot 7 external with respect to the supporting bar 30 onwhich the weight of the product column abuts, the rocker is alwayspushed inwards. In this way, the follower follows the cam profile withno need for a return spring or a guide groove.

The operating sequence of the device according to the present inventionis now described with reference to FIG. 3, which is a schematic frontview thereof. In the starting position 1, basket 6 is arranged almosthorizontally and contains a 1^(st) product. The left rocker 5a is in avertical position since the corresponding bearing 28 abuts on cam 14 inthe portion of greatest diameter, whereas the right rocker 5b has themaximum inclination inwards because the corresponding bearing 28 abutson cam 14 in the position of smallest diameter. The two columns ofproducts contained between walls 4a and 4b are supported by the leftrocker 5a, on whose bar 30 the 2_(nd) product positioned at the base ofthe left column abuts. The angle of rotation of cam 14 is indicated inthe drawing by α, while that of the basket is indicated by β.

When motor reducer 19 is activated by the vending machine controller,its shaft 18 rotates pinion 16, counter clockwise in the caseillustrated, and basket 6 and pinion 15 therewith, as previouslymentioned. The pinions engage with the crowns 13 bearing the cams 14which rotate at half the speed of basket 6, as explained above.

After the first 30° of rotation of cam 14 the device has reachedposition 11, in which the right rocker 5b has almost completed theupstroke towards the vertical position while the left one 5a is still insaid position. In contrast, basket 6 has rotated 60° and also has almostreached the vertical position. The 1_(st) product contained therein hasrolled over the edge but is still hold by the left flank 3a.

Through the following 60° rotation of cam 14 the device reaches positionIII, in which both rockers are still in the vertical position becausethe respective bearings 28 roll along the greatest diameter portion ofcam 14. Basket 6 has globally rotated for 180° and therefore is nowoverturned with respect to the starting position. The 1_(st) productcontained therein has been released through the drop channel.

In the following 45° rotation of cam 14 the device reaches position IV,in which the bearing 28 of the left rocker 5a is at the beginning of theportion which leads it to the smallest diameter of cam 14. Therefore,the corresponding rocker 5a starts to incline inwards, while the rightrocker 5b is still in the vertical position and basket 6 has completed3/4 of revolution by now.

During the last 45° rotation of cam 14 the device reaches position V, inwhich the inclination of the left rocker 5a inwards has taken its bar 30to a distance from the left wall 4a greater than the maximum diameter ofthe 2^(nd) product which therefore has come down in basket 6, which hascompleted its revolution in the meanwhile. The two columns of productsare now supported by the right rocker 5b, still vertical, on whose bar30 the 3^(rd) product positioned at the base of the right column abuts.

At the end of the operating cycle basket 6 has come back to the startingposition, whereas cam 14 is in a secular position, since it has madeonly 1/2 revolution. The description given above is also valid for theother 1/2 revolution of cam 14, requiring only to swap terms "left" and"right". Therefore, there is the apparent advantage of having a basket 6which makes a 360° rotation at each cycle thus discharging the productalways from the same side, regardless of the column from which theproduct comes, and fully exploiting the distance between flanks 3a and3b.

This feature is particularly useful to increase the number of productscontained in the machine, by increasing the device depth while keepingthe width constant. As explained in the introduction, the 1^(st) productusually represents a first row of aligned products coming down alltogether in basket 6. During the rotation between position 11 andposition III the basket makes a number of stops equal to the number ofproducts to be sequentially released, according to the notches 21 ondisc 20. The product falling always from the same side allows to arrangea higher number of increasing width projections along one flank only(the left one 3a in this case). In fact, it is sufficient that thewidest projection is spaced from the opposite flank more than themaximum diameter of the product. In this way it is possible to arrange4-5 products in a row, and for this reason it is important that thebasket be pivoted and driven into rotation at both ends.

The complete exploitation of the drop channel width also allows to reacha wider range of the maximum diameter of the products manageable by thedevice. It is sufficient to adjust the distance between walls 4a and 4bin order to be able to introduce products whose diameter may range, forexample, between 53 and 95 mm. It should also be noted that the directconnection, through pinion 16, between motor reducer 19, disc 20 andbasket 6 allows a direct control of the sequenced release positionswhich are not affected by possible plays present in the mechanism.

It is clear that the above-described and illustrated embodiment of thedevice according to the invention is just an example susceptible ofvarious modifications. For example, the components for transmitting themotion may be replaced by other mechanically equivalent ones, as long asthe gear ratio between cams 14 and basket 6 is maintained.

I claim:
 1. A device for releasing products in a vending machine,including a structure containing two staggered columns of the productscomprising a front plate (1) and a rear plate (2) to which two flanks(3a, 3b) and two walls (4a, 4b) are secured, a pair of rocker levers(5a, 5b) and a revolving basket (6) being rotatably mounted inside saidstructure for alternately supporting the two staggered columns formingthe stack of products and for releasing the products, and components forcontrolling and driving said rockers (5a, 5b) and said basket (6)positioned outside said structure, characterized in that said drivingcomponents impart a unidirectional revolving motion to the basket (6)and said controlling components of the rockers (5a, 5b) comprising in apair of cams (14) which rotate at half the revolving speed of the basket(6).
 2. A device according to claim 1, wherein each rocker (5a, 5b), byalternately oscillating towards a center of the device, reaches adistance from the corresponding wall (4a, 4b) greater than a maximumdiameter of the product which thus comes down into the basket (6) fromthe base of the stack, while the other rocker supports the rest of thestack.
 3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the walls (4a, 4b) aresecured to the front and rear plates (1,2) in a position at equaldistance from a vertical mid plane of the device and in such a way as tobe able to adjust their mutual distance between one and another whilekeeping the said equal distance.
 4. A device according to claim 2,wherein the walls (4a, 4b) are secured to the front and rear plates(1,2) in a position at equal distance from a vertical mid plane of thedevice and in such a way as to be able to adjust their mutual distancebetween one and another while keeping said equal distance.
 5. A deviceaccording to claim 1 further comprising: a motor reducer, an outputshaft, and a disc which defines stops of said motor reducer, said motorreducer provides revolving motion to the device and is directly integralwith the basket and said disc.